It was a whirlwind for a month for Apple rumors. First, I heard from leaker Jon Prosser that an Apple event was scheduled for March 16, but that was ruled out by BloombergMark Gurman. Once the date passed, Prosser and other broadcasters suggested that an Apple event would take place on March 23, which doesn’t seem to be happening.
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With the attention that is now moving towards April, I have made this recapitulation of the situation in which things are.
Rumors are circulating in April
The first word Apple might plan for April announcements came from the Japanese site Mac Otakara back in early January. Citing supply chain sources, the blog claimed that Apple will launch a second-generation AirPods Pro and a third-generation iPhone SE in April, but the report did not say whether the products will be announced at an event or with press releases. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has since claimed that a new iPhone SE will not be launched until 2022, but new AirPods Pro are still possible this spring.
The April discussion intensified this week, starting with a report from the Taiwan supply chain publication DigiTimes which has requested the delivery of the volume of Mini-LED display components for a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro will begin in the second quarter of 2021, which runs from April to June. This was followed by a report from Gurman, who claimed that he intends to announce new iPads as early as April, including new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models.
In particular, Gurman claimed that the new iPad Pro models could have a Thunderbolt connector. This rumor certainly sounds plausible, as the new iPad Pro models are expected to be equipped with a faster A14X chip based on the M1 chip from the latest Macs, and the M1 chip supports Thunderbolt. And because Thunderbolt uses the design of the USB-C connector, the new iPad Pro models would still work with existing USB-C chargers and accessories.
As widely rumored, Gurman said Apple is trying to include Mini-LED backlighting on the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro, suggesting that the Mini-LED display technology could be exclusive to the larger model, at least for now.
Kuo added to the pile early Thursday, claiming that mass production of Mini-LED iPads will begin in mid-to-late April.
Apple event in April?
Apple’s April event took place in 2010, when the late Steve Jobs announced the preview of the iPhone OS 4 developer (later renamed iOS 4) at the small Apple City Hall conference center in its former Infinite Loop headquarters.
According to Prosser, however, Apple plans to host an event in April this year. In a YouTube video today, Prosser said he was actually told by a “vague and mysterious” source who was “100% accurate” that an April event would take place in late February, but Prosser believed that an April event made “little or no sense” and he was more inclined to believe that his sources mention a March 23 event.
Prosser himself admits that it is worth treating this rumor about the April event with some skepticism, as it would be Apple’s first April event in 11 years, but he emphasized the perfect record of his source. It is also worth noting that Prosser was inaccurate about three consecutive rumors at the time of the event, including a The November 17 event, an event on March 16and a March 23 event (except for a last-minute announcement).
What about the rest of March?
Both Gurman and Kuo point out that the new iPads are unlikely to be announced until at least April, and Kuo recently claims that mass production of third-generation AirPods is now scheduled for the second half of the year. 2021, the list of new Apple products that could be unveiled in March begins to shrink.
However, a new “Articles” tab enabled by default in the Find Me app in iOS 14.5 beta has led to some hope that the long-awaited trackers of Apple’s AirTags items will finally be released soon. Apple has said that iOS 14.5 will be released in “early spring”, but a specific release date remains unclear. If the Release Candidate version arrives to be released next week, then iOS 14.5 could be released around Monday, March 29 or Tuesday, March 30.
Apple could opt for the introduction of AirTags and / or other new products with press releases, as it did last spring, including the updated iPad Pro and MacBook Air models on March 18 and the second-generation iPhone SE on April 15. .
At least this week’s Gurman report said AirTags are still “planned for this year.”
All in all, although rumors have been popping up everywhere on the map until late, there seems to be enough smoke to suggest that at least some new products will be announced in the next six weeks or so. It remains to be seen whether any of the product announcements come in these last days of March or April, or at an event or otherwise.